Actors
Health and wellbeing are promoted on different levels and by different bodies. Policies concerning health promotion and primary prevention are implemented in local, regional and national level.
State
The state steers health promotion by legislation, recommendations and programmes as well as by targeting of resources. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has a general responsibility for guiding and coordinating health and wellbeing promotion in Finland.
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
The Finnish institute for health and welfare (Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos, THL) studies and develops the promotion of health and wellbeing, supports the municipalities and regions work by coordinating networks (e.g., Terve Kunta/Healthy Municipality, aligned with WHO's Healthy Cities), and providing the latest knowledge, evidence and tools for the management, planning, implementation and evaluation of health and wellbeing promotion.
Learn more about the Finnish Healthy Cities Network
Regional actors
Health and wellbeing actors include the new wellbeing services counties, the current municipalities and joint municipal authorities that provide health and social services, and regional councils.
Under section 7 (Finlex) of the Act on Organising Healthcare and Social Welfare Services , wellbeing services counties are required to promote their residents’ health and wellbeing. The wellbeing services county has the primary responsibility for promoting health and wellbeing in areas where this relates to the county’s other statutory tasks.
In addition, there are a number of other actors within the regions, areas and localities whose work relates to the promotion of health and wellbeing. These include social sector centres of excellence, regional state administrative agencies, centres for economic development, transport and the environment, TE offices, organisations and enterprises.
Municipalities
Promoting health and wellbeing is a municipal duty. It aims at:
- increasing the wellbeing, health and functional capacity of municipal residents
- preventing disease and exclusion and
- strengthening participation.
Municipalities have large responsibilities in health and wellbeing promotion. Although many health and wellbeing promotion initiatives and policies are made on the national level, it is up to the municipalities to decide how they implement them.
Municipalities’ tasks, responsibilities and obligations in the promotion of health and wellbeing are:
- Assessing and taking into consideration any effects that their decisions may have on the health and wellbeing of residents when planning and making decisions
- Identifying the objectives for health and wellbeing promotion on the basis of local conditions and needs in their strategic plans, as well as defining the measures for meeting these objectives by making use of local health and wellbeing indicators
- Municipalities shall monitor the determinants of health and wellbeing and follow-up the health and wellbeing of their residents by population groups. They shall also track any measures taken with regard to local authority services that are aimed at meeting the wellbeing needs of residents.
- Reports on the health and wellbeing of residents and on any measures taken shall be drawn up for the municipal council once a year.
- A more comprehensive review on health and wellbeing shall be produced for the municipal council once during each term of office (four years).
- Municipalities shall assign bodies responsible for health and wellbeing promotion to help with the work.
- All departments of the municipality shall work together in health and wellbeing promotion.
- Cooperation with other public local authorities as well as with private enterprises and non-governmental organisations.
The municipality's health-promoting and preventive services include education, libraries, leisure time and exercise services, and cultural services. The Health Care Act defines the preventive services that municipalities need to offer.
The coordinator for the promotion of health and wellbeing in the central administration of the municipality is an important actor linking the municipality's fields of activity and coordinating regional cooperation. The coordinator can also be shared by municipalities.
It is important for the municipal decision makers to concur that it is possible to proactively influence the population's health and wellbeing. Municipalities make the decisions about how the promotion of health and wellbeing is realised in the municipality.
Promoting health and wellbeing is a statutory duty
- According to the Local Government Act (2015), promoting the health and wellbeing of municipal residents is one of the basic duties of each municipality.
- Under section 6 (Finlex) of the Act on Organising Healthcare and Social Welfare Services, municipalities are required to promote their residents’ health and wellbeing. The municipality has the primary responsibility for promoting health and wellbeing in areas where this relates to the other statutory tasks of the municipality.
- The Health Care Act (2010) gives a broad definition of the municipality’s duties in promoting the health and wellbeing of its residents.
Non-governmental organisations
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have an important role in promoting health and wellbeing. NGOs work closely with citizens in their everyday life. Non-governmental organisations give a voice to those who might not be heard otherwise.
It is vital that municipalities work together with NGOs in promoting the health and wellbeing of their residents.
Health and wellbeing needs to be promoted together
No actor alone can safeguard the health and wellbeing of the people. Various actors and players need each other. Collaboration between organisations, the public and the private sector can be effective in resolving health and social issues.
What is needed for successful cooperation:
- knowledge about ways to affect health,
- information about health-promoting practices,
- structures that enable cooperation and multidisciplinary discussion,
- examples of ways to act,
- a common knowledge base about the health and wellbeing of the population and
- agreed strategic aims to enable everyone to speak with a single voice.
Read more about Health in All Policies
